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- UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001098
- C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (CORRECTED ADDEE)
- DEPT FOR CA/VO/L/C; CA/VO/L/A; CA/FPP SARAH SEXTON; INR/TIPOFF; DS
- OFAC
- ROME FOR DHS/ICE
- CA/FPP: PLEASE PASS TO DOJ LISA HOLTYN AND BRUCE OHR
- SIPDIS
- E.O. 12958:N/A
- TAGS: CVIS SNAR CMGT KFRD KCOR KCRM KTIP PINR IS
- SUBJECT: ISRAEL, A PROMISED LAND FOR ORGANISED CRIME?
- Summary
- ---------
- ¶1. (SBU) Organized crime (OC) has longstanding roots in Israel, but
- in recent years there has been a sharp increase in the reach and
- impact of OC networks. In seeking a competitive advantage in such
- lucrative trades as narcotics and prostitution, Israeli crime groups
- have demonstrated their ability and willingness to engage in violent
- attacks on each other with little regard for innocent bystanders.
- The Israeli National Police (INP) and the courts have engaged in a
- vigorous campaign against organized crime leaders, including the
- creation of a new specialized anti-OC unit, but they remain unable
- to cope with the full scope of the problem. Organized crime in
- Israel now has global reach, with direct impact inside the United
- States. Post is currently utilizing all available tools to deny
- Israeli OC figures access to the United States in order to prevent
- them from furthering their criminal activities on U.S. soil. End
- Summary.
- Crime War Hits the Streets of Israel
- -------------------------------------
- ¶2. (SBU) In November 2008, Israeli crime boss Yaakov Alperon was
- assassinated in broad daylight in a gruesome attack on the streets
- of Tel Aviv, only about a mile away from the Embassy. According to
- several media accounts, a motor scooter pulled up alongside
- Alperon's car and the rider attached a sophisticated explosive
- device with a remote detonator to the car door. The bomb killed
- Alperon and his driver, and injured two innocent pedestrians. The
- hit was the latest in a series of violent attacks and reprisals, and
- indicated a widening crime war in Israel.
- ¶3. In July 2008, a 31-year-old Israeli woman was killed by a stray
- bullet on the beach in Bat Yam in front of her husband and two
- children during a failed assassination attempt on noted crime figure
- Rami Amira. In a feud between the Abutbul and Shirazi clans, crime
- boss Shalom "Charlie" Abutbul was shot by two gunmen in September
- 2008, an attack that also wounded three bystanders. In December
- 2008, Charlie Abutbul's son-in-law, Nati Ohayon, was gunned down in
- his car in Netanya. Before the fatal bombing of his car, Alperon
- himself had survived at least three previous attempts on his life
- before his assassination, and was engaged in an ongoing feud with
- the rival Abergil clan (although there are numerous suspects in
- Alperon's murder). The day after Alperon's death, two members of
- the Abergil syndicate were sentenced for conspiring to kill
- Alperon's brother, Nissim, in May 2008.
- ¶4. (SBU) In response to rising concerns for public safety, former
- Prime Minister Olmert convened an emergency meeting of top law
- enforcement officials, cabinet members, and prosecutors in December
- ¶2008. He promised to add 1,000 officers to the INP and to allocate
- approximately NIS 340 million (USD 81 million) to improve the INP's
- technical capabilities. In general, the rise in OC-related violence
- has led some public figures to call for emergency state powers to
- attack criminal organizations, and OC became a minor but important
- issue in the February 2009 Knesset elections. Former Labor Party MK
- Ephraim Sneh publicly decried criminal extortion in his campaign
- ads, only to have his car torched in apparent retaliation outside
- his home in Herzliya.
- Background
- ------------
- ¶5. (SBU) Organized criminal activity is not a new phenomenon in
- Israel, and major crime families are well known to the Israeli
- public (the Alperons even featured in a recent reality television
- program). Five or six crime families have traditionally dominated
- OC in Israel, although the names and makeup of these syndicates have
- fluctuated in recent years. The Abergil, Abutbul, Alperon, and
- Rosenstein organizations are among the most well known, but recent
- arrests and assassinations have created a power vacuum at the top.
- New names such as Mulner, Shirazi, Cohen and Domrani have moved
- quickly to fill the gap. Other up-and-coming groups include the
- Harari, Ohana, and Kdoshim families. There are also a number of
- rival families active in the underworld of Israel's Arab sector.
- ¶6. (SBU) Traditional OC activities in Israel include illegal
- neighborhood casinos, prostitution rings, extortion, and loan
- sharking, with each family controlling a different geographic
- region. The Alperon family, for instance, dominates the Sharon
- region, while the Abutbul operation is based in the coastal city of
- Netanya. The focus is largely on easy money guaranteed by the
- limited use of violence. Criminal involvement in the recycling
- business, for example, has been well covered in the press. OC
- families collect bottles illegally from municipal recycling bins and
- restaurants, return them at the collection centers claiming twice
- the actual numbers, and pocket the change for millions in profits.
- Not Your Grandfather's Mob
- ---------------------------
- ¶7. (SBU) Despite their notoriety, OC figures have generally been
- viewed as a nuisance to be handled by local police. Law enforcement
- resources were directed to more existential security threats from
- terrorists and enemy states. In recent years, however, the rules of
- the game have changed. According to xxxxx, the old school of Israel
- OC is giving way to a new, more violent, breed of crime. xxxxx told conoffs that the new style of
- crime features knowledge of hi-tech explosives acquired from service
- in the Israeli Defense Forces, and a willingness to use
- indiscriminate violence, at least against rival gang leaders. New
- OC business also includes technology-related crimes, such as stock
- market and credit card fraud, and operates on a global scale.
- ¶8. (SBU) As the reach of Israeli OC has grown, so have the stakes.
- Crime families are working further from home and exporting violence
- abroad. Older gambling schemes have grown to include sprawling
- casino franchises in Eastern Europe. The Abutbul family began its
- gambling business in Romania over a decade ago, and now owns the
- Europe-wide Casino Royale network. In 2002, Israeli OC turf wars
- spilled into Europe when Yaakov Abergil and Felix Abutbul were
- killed two months apart. Abutbul was gunned down in front of his
- casino in Prague in a show of force by the Abergils as they
- attempted to capture a portion of the European gambling market.
- ¶9. (SBU) Israeli OC now plays a significant role in the global drug
- trade, providing both a local consumer market and an important
- transit point to Europe and the United States. In 2004, Zeev
- Rosenstein was arrested in Israel for possession of 700,000 ecstasy
- tablets in his New York apartment, destined for distribution in the
- U.S. market. He was ultimately extradited to the United States in
- 2006, where he is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence. Two
- other crime figures, Meir Abergil and Israel Ozifa, are also facing
- U.S. extradition charges on charges that include smuggling 100,000
- ecstasy tablets into the United States.
- ¶10. (SBU) The prostitution business has also grown beyond the
- neighborhood brothel. In March 2009, the INP arrested twelve
- suspects in what is believed to be the largest Israeli-led human
- trafficking network unearthed to date. Ring leader Rami Saban and
- his associates were charged with smuggling thousands of women from
- the former Soviet Union and forcing them to work as prostitutes in
- Israel, Cyprus, Belgium, and Great Britain. Some women were flown
- to Egypt and smuggled across the Sinai border by Bedouins.
- Law Enforcement Steps up the Pressure
- -------------------------------------
- ¶11. (SBU) After years of perceived inaction, in 2008 the INP
- created a new unit called Lahav 433. The elite unit operates under
- the direct command of the police commissioner, and is charged
- specifically with infiltrating and eliminating Israel's major crime
- syndicates. Lahav 433 also cooperates closely with district
- investigative units to combat smaller criminal organizations, many
- of which are aligned with the larger crime families.
- ¶12. (SBU) Following Alperon's assassination, the INP initiated a
- series of raids that led to the arrests of a number of leading crime
- figures. Among their targets were Aviv and Adam Abutbul, sons of
- crime-family head Charlie Abutbul, both charged with possession of
- illegal weapons. (A third brother, Francois, is already facing
- murder charges for a nightclub killing in 2004.) Police also
- arrested gangland figure Amir Mulner for weapons possession and
- conspiracy to commit a crime. Mulner is known to be an explosives
- expert by army training, and is a suspect in Yaakov Alperon's
- murder. He is also believed to be managing affairs for Rosenstein
- while the latter serves his sentence in the United States.
- ¶13. (SBU) Yaakov Alperon's brother Nissim was arrested with 18
- others in December 2008, in what was reported to be a "mafia
- meeting" in a Tel Aviv-area caf. According to the Jerusalem Post,
- the group may have been planning a revenge attack for his brother's
- recent assassination. Alperon's son Dror, recently dismissed from
- his army service for disorderly behavior, also faces several counts
- of assault and was convicted on extortion charges. Also in
- December, police in Netanya launched several raids on illegal
- gambling houses and the homes of suspected money launderers with
- ties to the crime families. In Ashdod, brothers Roni and David
- Harari were arrested on charges of extortion. Regional police stuck
- a blow against the Jerusalem Gang, and convicted its leader Itzik
- Bar Muha.
- Skepticism Hovers Over GOI Efforts
- ----------------------------------
- ¶14. (SBU)xxxxx told conoffs that
- "thousands of foot soldiers" remain active on the streets despite
- these aggressive anti-OC operations. He noted that approximately
- 2,000 people attended Alperon's very public funeral. xxxxx
- expressed skepticism that recent arrests will bear fruit in the long
- term without a sustained commitment to enforcement. He noted that
- many of the crime leaders remain active while in prison and their
- operations are not hampered significantly even when they are
- convicted and jailed.
- ¶15. (SBU) In December 2008, former Prime Minister Olmert himself
- admitted that efforts to combat OC have long been diluted among
- different agencies, and that INP technology lags far behind that
- allocated to security services for counterterrorism. Given the
- recent change in government and the current economic crisis, there
- is public skepticism as to whether GOI promises to remedy the
- situation will be fulfilled. In 2003, following a failed
- assassination attempt on Rosenstein, then Prime Minister Ariel
- Sharon made similar promises to commit manpower and resources to
- combating the problem.
- ¶16. (SBU) It is not entirely clear to what extent OC elements have
- penetrated the Israeli establishment and corrupted public officials.
- The INP insists that such instances are rare, despite the
- occasional revelation of crooked police officers in the press.
- Nevertheless, there have been several dramatic revelations in recent
- years that indicate a growing problem. In 2004, former government
- minister Gonen Segev was arrested for trying to smuggle thousands of
- ecstasy pills into Israel, a case that produced considerable
- circumstantial evidence of his involvement in OC. The election of
- Inbal Gavrieli to the Knesset in 2003 as a member of Likud raised
- concerns about OC influence in the party's Central Committee.
- Gavrieli is the daughter of a suspected crime boss, and she
- attempted to use her parliamentary immunity to block investigations
- into her father's business. (Gavrieli is no longer a member of the
- Knesset.) Just last month, Israeli politicos and OC figures came
- together for the funeral of Likud party activist Shlomi Oz, who
- served time in prison in the 1990s for extortion on behalf of the
- Alperon family. Among those in attendance was Omri Sharon, son of
- former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was himself convicted in
- 2006 on illegal fundraising charges unrelated to OC.
- Courts Testing New Powers
- --------------------------
- ¶17. (SBU) In 2003, the GOI passed anti-OC legislation that carries
- a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for heading a criminal
- organization and three years for working in such an organization.
- The law defines such a body as a group of people working in an
- "organized, methodical and ongoing pattern to commit offenses that
- are defined by the laws of Israel as crimes." The law also allows
- for property forfeiture, both in the wake of conviction and in cases
- where it is proven to belong to a criminal organization.
- ¶18. (SBU) Until recently, xxxxx, judges and lawyers have been
- slow to make use of this authority, and are hampered by a lack of
- resources, insufficient understanding of the tools at their
- disposal, and reticence to mete out tough sentences. A witness
- protection program for those who testify against OC is just now
- getting off the ground, and is not backed by any specific
- legislation. Nevertheless, on March 16th, a Tel Aviv district court
- took the important step of sentencing 14 convicted criminals
- belonging to two mob organizations in Ramle and Jaffa to up to 27
- years in prison.
- ¶19. (SBU) Increased efforts by Israeli authorities to combat OC
- have engendered retaliatory threats of violence. Recent press
- reports indicate that as many as 10 Israeli judges are currently
- receiving 24-hour protection by the police against the threat of
- violence from members of crime organizations. Israeli OC appears to
- be intent on intimidating judges personally, as a way of influencing
- the legal process. Judges in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa have
- been assigned police protection, underscoring the depth of the
- problem.
- Israeli Crime Reaches American Shores
- --------------------------------------
- ¶20. (SBU) Israel's multi-ethnic population provides a deep well of
- opportunity for Israeli OC to expand into new territory. Most
- Israeli crime families trace their roots to North Africa or Eastern
- Europe, and many of their Israeli operatives hold foreign passports
- allowing them to move freely in European countries, most of which
- participate in the visa waiver program with the United States.
- Approximately one million Russians moved to Israel following the
- dissolution of the Soviet Union, and Russian citizens no longer
- require visas to enter Israel. Many Russian oligarchs of Jewish
- origin and Jewish members of OC groups have received Israeli
- citizenship, or at least maintain residences in the country. Little
- is known about the full extent of Russian criminal activity in
- Israel, but sources in the police estimate that Russian OC has
- laundered as much as USD 10 billion through Israeli holdings. While
- most Israeli OC families are native-born and the stereotype that
- Russian immigrants tend to be mobsters is greatly overblown,
- indigenous OC groups routinely employ "muscle" from the former
- Soviet Union.
- ¶21. (SBU) The profit motive serves as a great unifier among
- Israel's diverse demographic groups. According to xxxxx, some
- Amsterdam-based Hasidic groups allegedly are implicated in
- international drug smuggling through links to Israeli OC. Arab and
- Jewish Israeli criminals routinely cooperate and form alliances to
- expand control of lucrative drug, car theft and extortion rackets.
- Even hostile and closed borders pose few obstacles to OC groups.
- According to the INP, 43% of intercepted heroin in 2008 was smuggled
- from Lebanon, 37% from Jordan, and 12% from Egypt.
- Israeli OC Operating Freely in United States
- ---------------------------------------------
- ¶22. (SBU) Given the volume of travel and trade between the United
- States and Israel, it is not surprising that Israeli OC has also
- gained a foothold in America. Over the last decade, media reports
- have detailed a number of high-profile cases involving Israeli OC,
- ranging from large-scale drug deals to murder. The ongoing Central
- District of California grand jury investigation against the Abergil
- family, where a RICO conspiracy case was initiated in December 2007,
- best demonstrates the full extent of such criminal activity.
- Investigators have linked Yitzhak Abergil and his entire network to
- crimes of "embezzlement, extortion, kidnapping, and money
- laundering." Yitzhak Abergil is currently under arrest in Israel
- and facing extradition for related charges linking him to the murder
- of Israeli drug dealer Samy Attias on U.S. soil.
- ¶23. (SBU) As part of an ongoing effort to track Israeli OC through
- media reports and police sources, Post so far has identified 16
- families and 78 related individuals who are at the center of Israeli
- organized criminal activity. The consular section has revoked
- several visas for those who have been convicted of crimes in Israel,
- but many OC figures have no prior criminal convictions and carry no
- visa ineligibilities. As a result, many hold valid nonimmigrant
- visas to the United States and have traveled freely or attempted to
- travel for a variety of purposes.
- ¶24. (SBU) In March 2009, Post received information from law
- enforcement authorities that convicted criminal and member of the
- Abergil organization, Mordechai Yair Hasin, along with his pregnant
- wife and child, was intending to flee Israel for Los Angeles on
- valid tourist visas. Hasin's visa was revoked based on his
- conviction, as were his family's visas after they were determined to
- be intending immigrants.
- ¶25. (SBU) As in the Hasin case, Post is using every available tool
- to limit OC travel to the United States, but such efforts are not
- always successful. In June 2008, Post issued Adam Abitbul a valid
- tourist visa. Abitbul had no prior criminal convictions, and
- carried no visa ineligibilities. Several months later, Post
- received information from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD)
- that he had traveled to the United States to carry out a hit.
- Abitbul returned to Israel prematurely for his father's funeral, at
- which time Post revoked his visa. (Post can only revoke the visas of
- Israeli citizens while in country.) In a similar case, in October
- 2008 Post issued Moshe Bar Muha a tourist visa; he claimed to be
- traveling for medical treatment. Post subsequently received
- information from the LAPD that Bar Muha is in fact the brother of
- Itzik Bar Muha of the Jerusalem Gang (see above) and a convicted
- criminal.
- ¶26. (SBU) As recently as March 2009, Zvika Ben Shabat, Yaacov
- Avitan, and Tzuri Rokah requested visas to attend a
- "security-related convention" in Las Vegas. According to local
- media reports, all three had involvement with OC. Post asked the
- applicants to provide police reports for any criminal records in
- Israel, but without such evidence there is no immediate
- ineligibility for links to OC. Luckily, all three have so far
- failed to return for continued adjudication of their applications.
- Nevertheless, it is fair to assume that many known OC figures hold
- valid tourist visas to the United States and travel freely.
- Comment: Israeli OC Slipping Through the Consular Cracks
- --------------------------------------------- ---------
- ¶27. (SBU) Given the growing reach and lethal methods of Israeli OC,
- blocking the travel of known OC figures to the United States is a
- matter of great concern to Post. Through collaboration with Israeli
- and U.S. law enforcement authorities, Post has developed an
- extensive database and placed lookouts for OC figures and their foot
- soldiers. Nevertheless, the above visa cases demonstrate the
- challenges that have arisen since the termination of the Visas Shark
- in September 2008. Unlike OC groups from the former Soviet Union,
- Italy, China, and Central America, application of INA
- 212(a)(3)(A)(ii) against Israeli OC is not specifically authorized
- per Foreign Affairs Manual 40.31 N5.3. As such, Israelis who are
- known to work for or belong to OC families are not automatically
- ineligible for travel to the United States.
- Cunningham
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